copula

linking verb

Linking verbs (also known as copulas or copular verbs) are used to describe the state of being of the subject of a clause. Unlike action verbs (also called dynamic verbs), they connect the subject to the predicate of the clause without expressing any action.

copula

Logic the often unexpressed link between the subject and predicate terms of a categorial proposition, as are in all men are mortal

Copula

an auxiliary grammatical element of a compound predicate having a weakened lexical meaning and serving to express merely grammatical categories of the predicate, the lexical meaning being expressed by a nonconjugated, usually nominal, element. The verb “to be” is used as a copula in many languages. The presence of a copula may be obligatory, as in English and French; optional, as in Russian and Hungarian; determined by the type of nominal predicate, as in Swahili; or determined by the semantic character of the sentence, as in Khmer. Certain verbs besides “to be” can function as copulas; these verbs, which introduce an additional nuance to the meaning of the elements linked by the verb, include the Russian nachinat’ (“to begin”), stanovit’sia (“to become”), and delat’ (“to do,” “to make”).

The zero-copula construction can be analyzed as a subtype of the copular one (basically, the copula is omitted under certain circumstances), but the positional construction is indeed of a different kind.

Finally, we will consider the use of the positionals and of the locative/ copular verb sein 'be' in relation to the BLC hierarchy proposed by David Wilkins, as summarized in the introduction to this issue.

Zribi-Hertz (1997) argues convincingly that the predicates in English copular constructions like This is John's/mine do not involve elliptical possessees but should be considered possessive adjectives instead.

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